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28th January 2022
Dear Parents/Carers
As you will be aware, the Spring Bank Holiday in 2022 will be moved to Thursday 2nd June 2022 and an additional Bank Holiday on Friday 3rd June 2022 will see a four-day weekend to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
It is compulsory for all employees to provide an extra days Bank Holiday to celebrate this event. Most schools will already be on their half-term breaks in the week commencing 30th May and so in order for schools to observe the Bank Holiday they will be required to do so on a different day. The school will be taking this extra bank holiday on Monday 21st March and school will be closed for staff and pupils. I know that many parents and carers will have work commitments and so this date has been chosen to allow the opportunity for childcare arrangements to be made if necessary.
SPRING TERM 2022
not attend school
SUMMER TERM 2022
attend school
Holidays
Development Day
Paul McLean
Head Teacher
Dear Parents/Carers
Sorry to bombard you with messages today. In line with attempting to reopen the school on Monday could I ask that if your child has any symptoms of co-vid or alternatively tests positive on a lateral flow test could you please inform school. This can be done in two ways, either via email on covid@khs.rac.sch.uk or alternatively via our school mobile on 07572740912 using a text message containing the name of your child and when they felt poorly/tested positive.
Also, as we are attempting to ventilate classrooms much more to restrict the spread of co-vid, given the time of year, could you ensure your child wears some warmer clothes when in school. We appreciate that for some classes the temperature of the room will need to be maintained at a certain level, so will be mindful of this when opening windows and doors.
Please keep an eye on the school website for any potential updates on school opening on Sunday evening.
Thank you for your continued support.
Paul McLean
Headteacher Kirkleatham Hall School
We today made the decision to close school for the rest of the week, with the school reopening on Monday 17th January. This was not a decision that was taken lightly. We have had an unprecedented number of positive covid cases. In total since the return after Christmas we have had 21 staff who have tested positive. On top of this we have had 14 students with confirmed positive cases but many more who have had to go home displaying symptoms.
These cases have continued to grow and this morning we would have been at a point where possibly seven classes would have needed to close. Our children do not have the ability to socially distance, a lot of them will not wear masks, they are transported in on mixed transport with groups from across school. I feel the situation would have only got worse and in doing so put some of our learners at real risk.
Within school, we have a number of children who during the first wave of the pandemic were classed as clinically extremely vulnerable and were unable to attend school. Despite evidence pointing to the Omicron variant being less severe there is not sufficient data to determine the impact of this variant on students who are extremely vulnerable.
I did not take the decision to close the school lightly, however the safety of our students will always be our paramount concern. I appreciate the difficulty this decision will have on some families and I do apologise for the inconvenience caused. However, by shutting the school for three days and reopening on Monday it should allow us to have the majority of staff return, asymptomatic cases will have disappeared and this should hopefully allow us to open the whole school on Monday. This will be dependent on staffing levels over the weekend.
I also apologise that parents were informed of the school closure at the last minute. However, we only hear of staff illness and positive covid cases on the morning and we are then in a position where we then need to be reactive to this. Unfortunately, due to the high number of cases we do not have any surplus staff so if staff report an absence it has a direct impact on whether classes are safe to open.
Paul McLean
Headteacher Kirkleatham Hall School
Due to a number of positive coronavirus cases within Diamond class, the class will be closed from tomorrow (Weds 12th January) until the end of the week. It will reopen as usual next Monday 17th January. I apologise for any inconvenience caused. Emerald class will reopen tomorrow for those who are not isolating. Thank you for your continued support at these difficult times.
11th January 2022
Dear Parents/Carers
Confirmed positive Covid cases are extremely high in school. We are at a point where not only are we having to shut classes due to staffing shortages, but we are also shutting classes due to high levels of positive cases in one given area of school.
Government guidance is that if an individual has a negative lateral flow test on day six and day seven then they can return to work or school provided they are extra cautious and take steps to prevent the potential spread of Covid. However, due to the inability of a large number of our students to be able to follow these steps to minimise risk we have made the decision that should a student test positive they should still isolate for ten days. This is to protect the other students and staff within school as cases within school are rocketing. To clarify, day one is the day after either a positive test or when the student exhibited symptoms, whichever comes first.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in these difficult times.
Yours sincerely
Paul McLean
Paul McLean
Headteacher
Kirkleatham Hall School
Dear parents/carers
Unfortunately we have had a number of positive cases of covid within emerald class. As a result we are going to close the class on Monday and Tuesday next week. Provided we have no further cases we will reopen the class on Wednesday after we have done a deep clean within the classroom. We will let you know as soon as we can if this situation changes.
Dear Parents/Carers
As per my letter on the first day back, we continue to have incredibly high levels of staff absence because of the Omicron variant of Co-vid 19.
At this current time we know there will be a minimum of seven staff off next week with co-vid. This is likely to increase considerably by the end of the weekend.
As a result of this, we have made the decision to close two classes next week. The classes closed next week will be Orange class and Sapphire Class. If the staffing situation improves over the course of next week, we will let you know if we are able to reopen the class, however the likelihood is that these classes will be closed for the week.
I apologise for the fact that these classes will not be open but unfortunately, there is not the level of staffing in school to ensure the safety of all the students within school.
If we have to close a class, we will try to ensure that this happens only once for that class, so that each child only misses one week of schooling. For those classes that have not missed a week of school please be prepared that your child’s class may close for one week over the next month or so. We will attempt to give you as much notice as possible, where we can, although this is challenging as it is impossible to predict staffing levels from one week to the next.
I know these enforced closures put real strain on families and as a school we really appreciate your support and understanding at this time.
Yours sincerely
Paul McLean
Headteacher Kirkleatham Hall School
If your child has any symptoms (not just the usual COVID symptoms) then please don’t send them in to school. Staffing is extremely tight across school due to a number of staff testing positive on lateral flow tests and PCR tests. Whilst we will do our best to keep classes open, in some cases classes will need to close. Unfortunately this week three classes have had to be closed Nursery, Rainbow and Rosedale, due to the large number of staff absences within these classes.